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The Kiwi new car market starts the new year the way it ended the past one: at record levels. January sales are up 11% on a year ago to an all-time record 11,667 registrations, dominated once again by Toyota at 20.6% share above Holden (13%), Ford (8.6%), Hyundai (7%), Mazda (6.9%) and Nissan (6.7%). Being currently the middle of Summer and the height of tourist season, the models sales charts is dominated by rental-boosted models: the Toyota Corolla ranks #1 with 792 sales including 582 (73%) to rental companies, the Holden Commodore is back up to #2 at 445 units (62% to rentals) and the Toyota RAV4 rounds up the podium with 436 deliveries (70% to rentals).

First Top 25 ranking for the Holden Trax in New Zealand.

In fact, if we remove sales to rental companies the Ford Ranger takes the lead with 417 registrations above the Toyota Hilux at 324. Notice also the Nissan Qashqai up to #13, X-Trail up to #14, Mitsubishi ASX up to #18, Ford Kuga up to #20 and the Holden Trax making its very first appearance in the New Zealand Top 25 at #23 with 132 sales and 1.1% share.

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Never before had New Zealand customers bought that many new vehicles: the Kiwi new car market is up a fantastic 12% year-on-year in 2014 to reach an all-time record 127,179 registrations, eclipsing the previous best of 123,247 units reached a full 30 years ago in 1984. Commercial vehicles, namely pickup trucks or “utes” as they are called here, pulled the market up with sales up an even more impressive 19% on the record it established in 2013 to lift it up to 36,662 units.

The Toyota Corolla celebrates 7 consecutive year as NZ’s #1 thanks to rentals.

Toyota remains the king on board but sees its market share worryingly slip down two percentage points to 19.4% because of sales up just 2% on 2013. Ford (+9%) and Holden (+15%) follow, with Mitsubishi up 25% to bypass Nissan to #6. Notice also Mercedes up 27%, Isuzu up 42%, Ssangyong up 47%, Jeep up 57%, Land Rover up 63% and Fiat up 129%, placing the Punto at a best-ever rental-boosted #15 in December (90% of the nameplate’s sales that month were to rental companies).

The Holden Colorado is up 20% to #5 in NZ in 2014.

As far as Chinese manufacturers are concerned, Great Wall steps out of the Top 20 but suffers much less than in Australia at just -7% to 955 sales. Foton is up threefold and 11 spots to #29 and 473 units while LDV is up 9fold to 391 deliveries at #31 but Chery tumbles down 17% to #33.

Fiat NZ sales are up 129% in 2014, the largest brand increase in the Top 20.

In the models ranking, the Toyota Corolla celebrates 7 consecutive years in pole position with 6,469 units and 5.3% share, however this crown is solely the works of rental companies: they purchased 3,046 or 47% of all Corollas in New Zealand this year. Instead, the main event is the 2nd place of the Ford Ranger with deliveries up an excellent 29% on 2013 to 6,330 and 5% share. This means the Ranger ends an incredible run of 32 consecutive years when the Toyota Hilux was the country’s #1 ute, and it was even #1 year-to-date up until October when the summer season boosted Corolla rental sales back into #1.

Toyota Highlander

The Holden Commodore is back up one spot to #4 thanks to the new generation enjoying its first full year of sales, the Colorado is up 20% and 3 ranks to #5, the Toyota RAV4 keeps its #1 SUV crown despite sales down 6% to #7, the Mazda3 is up 47% to #12, the Toyota Highlander up 146% to #14, the Honda Jazz leaps up to #17 thanks to the new model and the Isuzu D-Max is now inside the annual NZ Top 25.

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The New Zealand new vehicle market is going from strength to strength in 2014: November is the third monthly record in a row at 11,176 registrations, the highest since records began in 1975 (previous best: 10,388 one year ago). Year-to-date sales are now above the FY 2013 figure at 117,758 units, up 13% on 2013. The New Zealand Motor Industry Association now expects total new vehicle registrations to top 125,000 units for 2014, which will be an all-time record with the previous best year being 1984 at 123,247 new vehicles. Toyota over-performs again this month at 21.8% share vs. 18.9% YTD, ahead of Ford and Holden both at 11.8% while Mazda overtakes Hyundai to rank #4. The Toyota Corolla keeps the models ranking lead but isn’t that impressive at 5.4% share given 47% are rentals. The Ford Ranger (5.1%), Toyota Hilux (5%) and Holden Colorado (2.9%) make it 3 pickups in the Top 5 like year-to-date, the Toyota Yaris is boosted by rentals (36% of sales) to rank 4th once again as is the Toyota RAV4 (40%) at #6. The Honda Jazz is up 5 spots on October to #7 and the Holden Cruze is up 6 to #8.

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The New Zealand new car market continues to evolve at record heights. After delivering the highest July score in 29 years, the highest August tally in 33 years and the strongest September since records began in 1975, October sales are at an all-time high for the 2nd straight month at 12,023 units, up 12% year-on-year and lifting the year-to-date total to 106,582 units, up 13% on 2013. The market should pass the Full Year 2013 total (113,117 units) sometime in November. At this rate, 2014 should simply be the biggest year of new car sales in New Zealand since records began in 1975, with the pervious best being 1984 (123,247 deliveries).

The Toyota Highlander is up to #8 this month in NZ.

In the models ranking, we witness the same scenario as last year: the Toyota Corolla starting slow and then catching back on lost time thanks to rental sales. It holds a huge 10.5% market share in October thanks to 1,257 sales, 74% of which are to rental car companies. This allows the Corolla to edge past the Ford Ranger in the YTD ranking at 5,092 units vs. 5,061 and almost certainly this means the Corolla will secure a 7th consecutive year atop the New Zealand sales charts in 2014. The Toyota Yaris also benefits from rentals at #4 vs. #11 year-to-date, while other great performers this month in New Zealand include the Toyota RAV4 up to #7 vs. #12 YTD, the Toyota Highlander up to #8 vs. #16, Ford Focus up to #11 vs. #19 and the Honda Jazz at #12 vs. #18.

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At 11,840 registrations and up a massive 18% year-on-year, new car sales in New Zealand reach their biggest September score since records started back in 1975. The year-to-date total now stands at 94,289 units, up 14% on 2013 and on track to equal or even beat the highest-ever recorded year of sales in the country: 1984 with 123,247 registrations! Euphoric times indeed in New Zealand. Brand-wise, Toyota does even better than usual in pole position at 19.6% share vs. 17.7% year-to-date, while Holden overtakes Ford for second place at 11.4% vs. 9.7%. With Summer now approaching, traditionally the ratio of rental sales increases, with the main result being the Toyota Corolla reclaiming a top spot it hasn’t held since January with 620 sales and 5.3% share, a massive 60% being rentals. The Ford Ranger (still #1 year-to-date) and Toyota Hilux follow, while the Toyota Yaris is up 9 spots on August to #4 at 373 units and 3.2%, here too helped by rentals which account for 30% of its September score. Notice also the Mazda3 up 8 ranks to #7, the Honda Jazz inside the Top 10 again at #8 and the Nissan Qashqai up 9 spots to #10.

Another record month for commercial vehicles in New Zealand: up 15% year-on-year to reach 3,002 registrations, the highest August score since records began in 1981. Passenger cars are up a more discreet 3.5% to 7,066 units, adding up to 10,068 units for the month, up 7% on August 2013 and bringing the year-to-date total to 82,594 units, up 13% on 2013. The Ford Ranger remains atop the models sales charts at 548 units and 5.4% share, also reclaiming the year-to-date lead off the Toyota Hilux thanks to 3,842 sales and 4.7% vs. 3,739 and 4.5%.

Suzuki SX4 S-Cross

The Toyota Corolla ranks 2nd with a strong 4.6% share vs. 3.9% year-to-date with the Holden Commodore up to #4 both in August and year-to-date. The new generation Honda Jazz has definitely struck a chord with Kiwi car buyers: it breaks into the Top 5 this month with 264 sales and 2.6% share. Other great performers in New Zealand in August include the Toyota Highlander up to #10 and the Suzuki SX4 S-Cross up to a best-ever #27.

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At 10,313 registrations this month, the New Zealand new car market is up 10% year-on-year and delivers the best July score in 29 years! Commercial vehicles are at an all-time high for July: up 23% to 3,242 units, while passenger cars are up 4% to 7,071 sales. The year-to-date total is now up 13% on 2013 at 72,526 units. Brand-wise, Toyota, Ford and Holden lead the way like in the year-to-date ranking while Mazda jumps two spots on June to #4, Nissan is up 3 to #5 and Hyundai down two to #6. Boosted by the arrival of the new generation Jazz shooting up to 7th place with 302 sales and 2.9% share, Honda is up 8 ranks to #8 brand at 4.1% of the market vs. 2.7% year-to-date. The Ford Ranger is back to being the most popular vehicle in the country for the third time in the past 5 months thanks to 537 sales and 5.2% but still trails the Toyota Hilux year-to-date at 3,294 units vs. 3,326. Finally, the Nissan Navara (#4) and Holden Colorado (#5) make it 3 pick-ups inside the Top 5, the Mazda BT-50 jumps up to #11 and the Toyota Yaris up to #14.

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The New Zealand new car market goes from strength to strength this year and even reaches all-time record heights in June as far as commercial vehicle sales are concerned. At 12,519 registrations, the overall market is up 17% year-on-year, bringing the year-to-date total to 62,213 units, up 14% on 2013. Commercial vehicles break the 4,000 monthly sales mark in any month for the first time since records began in 1981! That’s a 26% year-on-year increase while passenger cars are up 13% to 8,517. Toyota has a particularly strong month at 20.4% share vs. 17.5% year-to-date, ahead of Ford (10.9%) and Holden (10.7%) while Hyundai is up two spots on May to #4 and 8.2% above Mitsubishi (7.2%), Mazda (5.6%) and Volkswagen (4.5%).

The Toyota RAV4 is the best-selling passenger car in New Zealand this month.

Model-wise, we have a third year-to-date leader in as many months: after the Toyota Corolla led all the way through April and the Ford Ranger overtook it in May, the Toyota Hilux, strengthened by a very robust June score (847 sales and 6.8% share), takes the lead halfway through the year with sales adding up to 2,916 and 4.7% share. The Ford Ranger follows at 4.6% in June and 4.4% year-to-date, while the Toyota RAV4 is the best-selling passenger car this month, brilliantly gaining 5 spots on May to #3 above the Toyota Corolla (#5) and Highlander up an even more impressive 13 ranks to #6 overall. Notice also the Holden Colorado very strong again in 4th place and the Ford Focus up 10 spots to #14.

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New car sales in New Zealand are up another very impressive 15% year-on-year in May to 10,064 registrations, with Commercial Vehicles (3,262) achieving the best May on record. Year-to-date sales are up 13% on 2013 to 49,617 units. Massive event atop the Kiwi models charts: even though it is down to #2 this month below the Toyota Hilux (5% vs. 5.6% share), the Ford Ranger takes advantage of a particularly disappointing month from the Toyota Corolla (#6!) to become the most popular vehicle in the country year-to-date with 2,191 sales and 4.4%, ahead of the Hilux (4.2%) with the Corolla (4%) kicked down to third place. Notice also the Toyota Hiace up 3 spots on April to #3, the Holden Colorado up one to #4, Suzuki Swift back up 9 to #5 and the Toyota RAV4 up 20 to #8.

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New car sales in New Zealand are up 7% year-on-year in April to 8,729 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 39,553 units, up 13% on 2013. The Ford Ranger continues to impress month after month, topping the sales charts for the 2nd time running and with such a margin over its followers (513 sales vs. 377 for the Toyota Hilux and 298 for the Toyota Corolla) that is now threatens the almighty Corolla for pole position in the year-to-date ranking at 1,688 sales vs. 1,739! If the Ranger manages to find its way into #1 year-to-date and holds onto it until the end of the year, it would be the first time since 2007 the Corolla isn’t the best-seller in the country…

Nissan X-Trail

Another exceptional performer this month is the Nissan X-Trail, up from outside the Top 25 in March directly to #4 with 238 sales and 2.7% share, potentially due to the combination of runout sales of the previous model and the first new generation cars coming through to dealerships across both islands. Notice also the Holden Colorado up 11 spots on March to #5, the Hyundai Santa Fe up 7 to #10, Holden Captiva back up 8 to #11, Toyota Highlander up 10 to #13 and the Jeep Grand Cherokee making its very first appearance inside New Zealand’s Top 25 most popular vehicles at #23.